From here to there

How hard the words
from head to mouth
and how hard the
understanding from ear
to brain:  say it again
but not that way
say, rather, something else  -
the thing I want to hear

where is the middle meeting
point of calm air
and the sieve of our habitual
veil torn away so we can
see it clear?
It is not so, not yesterday
not today

when I say something
you think you hear
and you are rendered
deaf and blind
to the real message
that does not translate
from here to there:
from my mouth
to your ear.

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